Recent reviews by Horchata Hustler

I remembered this game from my childhood and how much I loved watching youtubers play it. It's not the most complicated game but its very fun if you like to grind without actually thinking too hard. I still feel the same warm feelings about it I had as a kid even now finally getting to play it myself. The saving system being nonexistent is a bit annoying but its not even necessarily hard to get the progress back.

While I do enjoy the game and greatly enjoy some of the characters I have many issues I'd have to warn someone about before purchasing. I bought this when it first released around all the hype and was a bit disappointed.

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1. ) The darker-skinned characters aren't really given justice.

I wouldn't say they're horrible but trope following? Yes, very. While I am thankful they're not outright harmful interpretations or at least not aggressively harmful don't be shocked if something leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I noticed that the black characters don't really get the same opportunities for same sex relationships on screen (not including the player) as others which was very upsetting :(. I also LOVED Amir but his route is extremely short and loses the plot very fast, he has no dedicated goal, it's extremely messy and he goes from someone who adores a confident player to him babying you because suddenly the player becomes a self conscious loser ?? Like actually a loser because why are we venting to this beautiful babe we just met and why are we scared now when we were just sassy and pompous a couple of dialog options ago ? He gets extra content (it's not that much don't get excited) but I found out the hard way it's extremely easy to accidentally cut it off ( </3 )

2. ) Weird trope with characters who have English as a second language.

The Latino characters having thick accents (which isn't a problem really) and most of them randomly bringing elementary Spanish (Stereotype!) into the conversation like a Klance fanfic. (this also happens to other characters who can be perceived as atypical Americans, which I can still find offensive since they are fulfilling the trope for comedy in most cases). The difference between a character like Mateo and Keyes is that Keye's disconnect due to her struggles with English felt realistic (although she never spoke her mother tongue) because of her misunderstanding of phrases and struggle to speak casually, with Mateo there's already a certain trope with latino characters known in romance fiction so seeing him fulfill it when I met him truly made me sad!!! Enough on this section if you want to argue they don't tend to go for the stereotype please just speak to Dasha because this happens to EVERYONE, just because it happens to everyone doesn't mean its ok either even if this game is satirical, it loses it's right to call itself satire when it gives storylines about abuse and suicide.

3. ) The Trigger Warning System Is pitiful.

In the game a character named Skylar is in charge of warning the player about the contents of a route that includes triggering topics and asks if they'd like to skip it or not. The problem with this is Skylar does not warn the player about routes the devs didn't think were triggering (Which is.. Telling and also Harmful). A character named Scandalabra was one I became interested in by design and because I love his voice actor from previous works! However Skylar did not warn me about the fact I'd catch him doing sexual acts by complete accident, it's your SECOND interaction with him, there's no build up (you don't pick a single dialogue option to trigger it so there's no context) and I wasn't prepared and honestly it was very upsetting for me and my friends who were watching me stream the game at the time. I'm not sure if it's just because I have a past of SA trauma but having no warning and seeing the game play it off as a joke when it is confirmed the character is very much a sexual freakaleak (no shame in that <3) felt so disgusting, it felt very much like a non-consensual voyeuristic act.

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Again the game is a love letter to voice acting but truthfully... I don't think it was released in a good state with enough play-testing done by people who were willing to put their foot down and think critically. The game leaves you wanting more content no matter what character you romance.. I know the point is that the dateables all find their own lives beyond you and the MC is meant to be horrible (at least I hope so...) but wow man... a datesim where no one actually loves you is a bit odd! I hope that in 5 years there can be some sort of improvement or if these minds come together again they learn from the mistakes they made this time around.

Stay wary stay safe! You're not bad for enjoying this game if you do get it just remember how important it is to think critically.

played just in time to wait 10 years for the next one

its all fun and games until youre trapped in a corner desperately trying to succeed in a grab, unable to block for much longer against your friend who is actually good at fighting games hes just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with you. anyways i love this game id give up my firstborn child for it